Walk through George Washington's Forest
Download Walkabout Map (298k PDF)
Description: This walk takes you through lands once owned by George Washington and past other sites where, with a little imagination, some remains of the Colonial era can be glimpsed. Presented here are both an abbreviated and extended walk of approximately 3.5 and 7 miles, respectively. The terrain is slightly hilly and traverses streets, a public access road, a parking lot and paved trails. NOTE: a video version of this walkabout will be aired on Arlington Cable Channel AVN 71 beginning in July, 2005.
Background: George Washington owned extensive lands throughout Virginia and one of his properties is located partly within present-day Arlington County. Washington purchased this approximately 1200-acre tract of land in 1775. The American Revolution then broke out and he was kept away leading the Continental Army for the next eight years. Only when the war was over and Washington returned to his beloved home in Northern Virginia was he able to survey the property that he had purchased. Washington continued to own the land at the time of his death in 1799 and afterwards it became known as "Washington's Forest."
When George Washington acquired Washington Forest, the land was largely still covered by forest, as the name of the tract implies. Since then, however, most of the land has been developed. Today much of Washington Forest is home to subdivisions, stores and soccer fields, instead of the quiet forest of Washington's day. A small portion of Washington's Forest, however, has been turned into parkland by Arlington County. Here the trees have grown back and the land again looks something like it did when Washington walked here. Walking through the parks alongside Four Mile Run, you can imagine Washington beside you surveying his property or selecting timber to cut for use at Mount Vernon.
BEGIN HERE: Ball-Carlin Cemetery, 300 South Kensington Street (adjacent to Glencarlyn Library)
The historic marker discusses the members of the Ball and Carlin families who are buried in this cemetery who were contemporaries and acquaintances of George Washington. There are no tombstones in the cemetery, but there used to be some stones marking a few of the graves. The Glencarlyn/Carlin Springs community derives its name from the Carlin family. The Balls were a prominent Colonial-era family for whom Ballston, a well-known Arlington community, was named. Although the historic marker states that the Balls were cousins of George Washington, and some people believe that they were related to Washington's mother Mary Ball Washington, no one has yet found proof that Moses and John Ball were related to Washington. You will pass near the site of the house of Moses Ball at the next stop and will visit his brother John Ball's home near the end of the walk.
Continue west on 4th Street South (the side with the sidewalks) one block, turn left (south) on South Lexington Street, then right at the first corner (5th Street South) to South Carlin Springs Road. Turn left and stop at the historic marker by the bus stop two blocks to the south, in front of the Northern Virginia Community Hospital.
The historic marker explains that Moses Ball and George Washington together surveyed the boundary between their adjoining properties in 1785. The spring discussed on the marker is approximately 200 yards east of the marker. You can locate the spring by walking through the hospital parking lot to a shed at the far eastern end of the lot and then following a concrete waterway downhill for a short distance. The spring is at the bottom of the concrete waterway. Several years ago, a local history buff constructed a cement and stone archway with a plaque memorializing Moses Ball over the spring. Local lore has it that when George Washington surveyed his Four Mile Run tract with Moses Ball in 1785, he may have drunk some of the spring's water.
Retrace your steps back to Carlin Springs Road, and continue past the hospital. Turn left (east) on the access road into Long Branch Nature Center. Continue straight through the parking lot of the Nature Center, taking the trail marked 'Dog Exercise Area, Bike Trail to Glencarlyn Park'. Stay straight at the first fork in the path, then take the second fork to the right, towards the Park Pavilion. Pass the pavilion on your left. At the lower parking lot you will see two bridges. Do not cross either bridge, but follow the short path between the two bridges to Stop #3, a masonry monument surrounded by fence.
3. Monument, Confluence of Long Branch and Four Mile Run (inside metal cage)
Although it is no longer legible, this monument marks the site of an oak tree that Washington used as a survey marker when he surveyed his property in 1785 (you will see a section of the trunk of this tree in Glencarlyn Library at the end of this tour). The northernmost corner of George Washington's property is about two hundred yards south of this point.
Now cross the upstream bridge and immediately turn right onto the Four Mile Run Trail, walking downstream through Four Mile Run Park. The Four Mile Run Trail is lower in elevation and closer to the stream than the W&OD Trail. Continue south on Four Mile Run Trail. Stop #4 is immediately after the trail crosses back to the west side of the creek.
This stream was the eastern boundary of George Washington's property. The trail crosses the stream several times. When you are on the right (west) side of the stream for the next two miles you are walking on the Washington Forest tract. Although none of the trees have survived from Washington's day, the hardwood forest in this section probably looks much the same as it did when Washington purchased the land. The left (east) side of Four Mile Run was not owned by George Washington. The land on the east side of the stream has been greatly altered by the construction in the 1840s of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad. The W&OD is now an elevated trail that runs parallel to the Four Mile Run Trail on which you are walking.
The trail slopes down and crosses over two concrete bridges, closely following the stream, then continues underneath the overpass where Columbia Pike crosses Four Mile Run. The next stop is just beyond the overpass.
5. Arlington Mill Site, Columbia Pike at South Four Mile Run Drive
It is not especially easy to see, but a mill once stood on the hillside just to your right (west) of the trail, which was built in 1836 by George Washington's step-grandson and namesake George Washington Parke Custis. George Washington considered Custis to be his adopted son, and when Washington died in 1799, Custis inherited the "Washington Forest" property. Custis lived in Arlington House, the mansion that gave Arlington County its name. Only part of the foundations of the mill remain today, but they are difficult to see from the trail.
OPTIONAL ADD-ON: If you want to walk to and from the site of one of the original boundary stones that once established the physical extent of the District of Columbia, see "Boundary Stone Trek Add-On" described after stop #7 below. Otherwise, continue on to...
Immediately after the mill site, you will exit the trail onto Columbia Pike. Being careful of traffic on the Pike, cross to the north side of the street to read the markers, one of which provides some interesting background information on the mill. Walk just a few paces to the east (right) and you will find the entrance to the W&OD Trail which will take you most of the way back to the Glencarlyn neighborhood.
Note: download map and aerial photo inserts (top of page) for details.
When you reach the point where the W&OD Trail crosses the Four Mile Run Trail (near the monument at stop #3), take the soft left fork downhill at the "Welcome to Glencarlyn Park" sign. Cross Four Mile Run and then take a right fork uphill at the fire hydrant. Exit the trail at the corner of 3rd Street South and South Harrison Street, continuing west on 3rd Street.
6. John Ball House, 5620 Third Street South
The east wing of this structure, built prior to 1755, was once the home of John Ball and his wife and five daughters. William Carlin, who was one of several tailors who did work for George Washington, purchased the house following John Ball's death in 1766 and was living here when Washington purchased the nearby Washington Forest tract. For visitors coming directly from Mount Vernon, this very modest home will provide a very interesting contrast to the grand homes that wealthy people like George Washington lived in. The John Ball House (also known as the Ball-Sellers House) is owned by the Arlington County Historical Society and is open to the public on a regular schedule and by appointment. More information about the John Ball House including hours and directions.
Continue west on 3rd Street South to South Kensington Street.
7. END: Washington Oak, in Glencarlyn Library, 300 South Kensington Street
On display in the library is a section of the trunk of an oak tree that George Washington used as a survey marker when he surveyed his Washington Forest land. You passed the monument that marks the site where the tree once stood at stop #3 in this tour. Check Glencarlyn library hours before you leave home!
Once you've checked out your books on the life of George Washington, the walking tour is over! Hope you enjoyed every step!
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BOUNDARY STONE TREK ADD-ON
If you are continuing on from main GW Forest walkabout (just after stop #5 above): head south on the Four Mile Run Trail on the east side of the stream (left bank, facing downstream) for approximately ¼ mile to George Mason Drive. Cross to the west side of stream on George Mason Drive and then continue south on Four Mile Run Trail through Barcroft Park.
If you are only walking the "boundary stone add-on," you will access the route from the south (eastbound) side George Mason Drive at the W&OD trailhead, and immediately turn right (west) towards the Four Mile Run Trail, where you will turn left (south).
Note: download map and aerial photo inserts (top of page) for details.
A. Washington Forest
All of the land on the west side of Four Mile Run was part of Washington Forest. When Washington owned this property, very few people lived in this area. There were only 978 people in all of present-day Arlington County when the first census was conducted in 1800. Today more people live in the apartments on the east side of the stream that you just passed than lived in the entire county during Washington's day. Although the land along the east side of the stream (which was not owned by Washington) has been almost completely developed and looks nothing like it did in the 1700s, the trees here in Barcroft Park have grown back to look somewhat like the forest Washington owned. You will notice many changes, however, as you walk through this land. All of the roads you cross on this trail have been built since Washington's death. The bed of Four Mile Run creek has been altered in many places due to the construction of roads and buildings and to prevent flooding and many of the streams that used to flow into Four Mile Run are now in culverts. And, of course, there was no asphalt bike trail but only a muddy horse path in Washington's day.
Continue south on Four Mile Run Trail to Walter Reed Drive.
B. Original Owners of Land
The property that Washington purchased was actually composed of two separate tracts of land. About half of the property (378 acres) was a narrow strip of land along the west bank of Four Mile Run. This land had originally been patented by Stephen Gray in 1724. You have been walking through this section of the property. In Washington's day, there were mills on Four Mile Run near the southern edge of this tract approximately one-half mile south of here near the present-day Shirlington Shopping Center. Nothing remains of the mills today. The second tract of land (790 acres) that made up Washington Forest extended to the west beginning a little to the west from this point and had been patented by Gabriel Adams in 1730. Both properties were then acquired by John Mercer in 1733 and his heirs sold the combined properties to George Washington in 1774.
Turn right (west) just past the small stone bridge onto the paved trail next to Walter Reed Drive for ½ mile. 100 feet before the intersection of Walter Reed Drive and King Street (Rte. 7), note the small stone marker surrounded by a wire grill, to the right of the trail.
You are now at the boundary between present-day Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. When Washington surveyed this land in 1785 and 1786, Arlington County had not yet been created and all of Washington Forest was in Fairfax County. During Washington's first term as President, Congress voted to move the capital from Philadelphia to a new location on the Potomac River and both Virginia and Maryland agreed to provide land for the new capital. In 1791, President Washington ordered a survey for the to-be-created District of Columbia. As part of the survey, stone markers were placed at one-mile intervals on the boundaries of the ten-mile-square federal district. One of these original boundary stones is to the right. This boundary stone is located on Washington's Forest land that George Washington owned at the time of the survey in 1791. Although much of Washington's Forest lay to the west of this point in present-day Fairfax County, all of the property to the east of this point in present-day Arlington County became part of the District of Columbia when the District was organized in 1801 two years after Washington's death. What is now Arlington County remained a part of the District of Columbia until 1847 when it was returned to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Reverse route on Walter Reed Drive. You can either retrace your steps, returning via the Four Mile Run Trail, or continue past the entrance and turn left (north) on the W&OD Trail in the median of South Four Mile Run Drive. In either case you will re-join the walkabout at Columbia Pike (stop #5, above).
Related Sites to Visit in Arlington
Two other sites in Arlington have important connections to George Washington. The ruins of Abingdon House can be seen at National Airport. Abingdon was purchased by Washington's stepson John Parke Custis (although Washington thought it was a bad deal) in 1778. Arlington House (Custis-Lee Mansion), in Arlington National Cemetery, although it was built after Washington's death, was the home of John Parke Custis's son (and Washington's adopted son, heir and namesake) George Washington Parke Custis. Arlington House also provides an incomparable view of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital city, which was named for our first President.
Additional information concerning George Washington's connections to Arlington County can be obtained at the Arlington Historical Museum at 1805 South Arlington Ridge Road. This museum is operated by the Arlington Historical Society and is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 p.m.
Sources
This walkabout was created by Kevin Vincent (kevin.vincent@bakerbotts.com) whose sources include:
Donald A. Wise, "George Washington's Four Mile Run Tract", Arlington Historical Magazine, October 1975. Arlington Public Library, Virginia Room (reference library) 975.5295 W812g
Charles W. Stetson, Four Mile Run Land Grants, 1935. Arlington Public Library, Virginia Room (reference library), 929.3 S841f
Martha Beggs Orth, The House That John Built: An Account of the Ball-Sellers House, 1993. Arlington Public Library, 975.5295 O77h
Eleanor Lee Templeman, Arlington Heritage, 1959. Arlington Public Library, numerous holdings.
Randy Swart, "Arlington History Bicycle Ride", http://www.bscl.org/histride.htm
Notes from Sara Collins, Martha Orth and Bernie Berne.
Special Thanks To:
Dean Allard and the Arlington Historical Society, the Arlington Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board, and the staff of the Arlington County Neighborhood Services Division, Historic Preservation Program, for their assistance with this Walkabout.
Also a very special "thank you" to Carl Closs, George Washington reenactor - http://www.gwashington.net. Mr. Closs can be reached at 102 Spinnaker Lane, Kennet Square, PA 19348 or Info@gwashington.net
